Lenny Rider
Well-known member
- Sep 15, 2010
- 6,443
Possibly more for the JCL’s and the younger fans (although we were all once JCL’s by the very nature of watching the club for the first time)
Ian Russell Chapman born 31/5/70 in Brighton General Hospital.
As a schoolboy selected to go to the FA’s School of Excellence and at 16 in Feb 87 became the first graduate to play in the Football League and the youngest ever Brighton debutant.
281 appearances 14 goals, not forgetting The Saint and Greavsie Own Goal of the Season vs Leeds in 1990 (sorry Chappers
)
After discovering he’d been released by the Albion in 1996 after hearing it on the Southern FM 11am news ( yes we really did treat staff that badly back then) he had two offers on the table, one from Gillingham and a better one from Crystal Palace.
He opted for the Gills telling me at the Gulls Eye dinner in 1997, “I’m a Woodingdean boy, I’d have to look at myself in the mirror every morning”
So might say misplaced loyalty, but a degree of loyalty to a club whose then regime had treated him like a dog.
So if we are looking for Albion legends on here, maybe look a little bit closer to home?
Ian Russell Chapman born 31/5/70 in Brighton General Hospital.
As a schoolboy selected to go to the FA’s School of Excellence and at 16 in Feb 87 became the first graduate to play in the Football League and the youngest ever Brighton debutant.
281 appearances 14 goals, not forgetting The Saint and Greavsie Own Goal of the Season vs Leeds in 1990 (sorry Chappers

After discovering he’d been released by the Albion in 1996 after hearing it on the Southern FM 11am news ( yes we really did treat staff that badly back then) he had two offers on the table, one from Gillingham and a better one from Crystal Palace.
He opted for the Gills telling me at the Gulls Eye dinner in 1997, “I’m a Woodingdean boy, I’d have to look at myself in the mirror every morning”
So might say misplaced loyalty, but a degree of loyalty to a club whose then regime had treated him like a dog.
So if we are looking for Albion legends on here, maybe look a little bit closer to home?